Where we work

Iraq

Factbox

Iraq’s is rich in oil and natural gas and other natural resources include phosphates and sulfur. The oil and gas sector makes up two-thirds of Iraq’s GDP and more than 90% of its public revenues. Globally, in 2010, Iraq ranked 12th in oil production and 4th in proven reserves. There have been suggestions of vast deposits of oil yet to be discovered in the country; Petroleum Economist estimated these at 200 billion barrels.

Sources: EIA, EITI, Iraq Oil Wikiguide

Open Oil has created an Iraq oil wikiguide – the Iraq Oil Almanac – containing lots of information about Iraq and its oil. It is the first open source reference for the Iraqi oil industry. You can visit the wiki in English or in Arabic
and its content is also downloadable in PDF format.

About the campaign

The Iraqi Transparency Alliance for Extractive Industries (ITAEI) was established in June 2011, and includes representatives of civil society organizations, unions, professional syndicates, media establishments, and independent professionals.

The goal behind establishing the Alliance was to organize and consolidate the efforts of Iraqi civil society organizations working to enhance transparency within Iraq’s extractive industries.

The common vision shared by the Alliance members is that Iraq’s extractive riches belong to the Iraqi people, and thus revenues derived there from should be invested for developing the wellbeing of the Iraqis.

The thematic focus of the coalition revolves around building the capacities of the Iraqi CSOs in preparing and executing programs, strategies and mechanisms that strengthen transparency and advocate EITI principles.

Today, the ITAEI includes more than 50 members.

Recent activities

6-8 June 2013 Members of the Iraqi coalition participated in an EITI report analysis and introduction to new 2013 Standards workshop in Erbil

6-7 March 2013 Members of the Iraqi coalition participated in the MENA regional workshop in Beirut, where they endorsed their national strategy.

19 January 2013 The province of Najaf saw its first EITI workshop, with more than 40 representatives from various sectors (government, press, civil society etc.) participating to learn about the implementation of EITI in Iraq.

6 April 2012

ITAEI held its 6th Regular meeting in Baghdad.

This meeting was held with the presence of most ITAEI members and its aim was to tackle the following issues:

Discuss the organizational structure of the coalition and decide on the subcommittees that it should include

Review the latest developments with the Iraqi MSG;

Present remarks regarding the first reconciliation report 2009,

Discuss the work plan for the next 6 months.

Mr. Adnan Bahiya was elected as coordinator of the ITAEI for the next 6 months.

April 25 2012

ITAEI one year anniversary media conference

This media conference was held in celebration of the one year anniversary of the ITAEI. Opening speeches by the coordinator and other active members were made relaying ITAEI goals, achievements and future plans. This was followed by discussions regarding the CSO role within the EITI.

January 2012 saw the first in a series of EITI-focused workshops co-facilitated by RWI and PWYP. This three-day workshop, held in the Rotana Hotel in Erbil, gathered 30 delegates from the Iraqi Transparency Alliance, including members of Iraq’s Multi-stakeholder Group (the “Stakeholder Council”). The aim of the workshop was to enhance participants’ understanding of the IEITI validation process and requirements, basic EITI scope issues, and the importance of and challenges to effective EITI communication. Preliminary discussions revolved around the Coalition’s draft analysis of Iraq’s first reconciliation report, which was published on December 20, 2011, and around validation requirements.

The IATEI report analysis will be available to read in English shortly.

More recently, members of the ITAEI attended a seven-day ‘training of trainers’ (ToT) workshop, organised by Revenue Watch Institute in Erbil, on March 7-14 2012.

This workshop, not limited to the members of the ITAEI, was aimed at CSO professionals and trainers , and designed to build their capacities in conducting similar such workshops introducing EITI principles and process. Members of the coalition attended this workshop to better enhance their abilities as trainers and advocates for EITI, which serves one of their core objectives as a coalition.